Clark County commissioners ban street food vendors on resort corridor

On Tuesday, Clark County officials unanimously voted to ban street food vendors from operating near resort hotels, event facilities, and convention centers. 

Street food vendors will be barred from working within 1,500 feet of a resort hotel or near a facility that can seat at least 20,000 people, among other areas.

Enforcement of the new ordinance prohibiting vendors from operating on the resort corridor will be effective immediately, according to the county.

“I can’t wait to start enforcement, because unfortunately there’s more than 10 there any given night. I don’t think that was the intent for the Las Vegas sign,” said county commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick.

For weeks, street food vendors have been operating on the resort corridor under the impression it was allowed, due to confusion around a new state law passed earlier this year, designed to reduce regulatory burdens for street food vendors seeking permits. 

The state law — which passed with near unanimous bipartisan support — requires counties and cities to establish a clear licensing process for street food vendors and modernize rules that make it too difficult, time-consuming or expensive to obtain valid permits. 

Only Clark and Washoe County, the two counties in Nevada with populations of 100,000 or more, are required to establish new ordinances under the law.

The county had until Oct. 15 to set restrictions for street food vendors working on the pedestrian heavy resort corridor before the new state law took effect.

For rules regulating the rest of Clark County, the commission has until July 1, 2024 to establish a second ordinance detailing the licensing requirements, constraints and enforcement of street food vendors outside the resort corridor. Commission Chair Jim Gibson said he expects the next ordinance to be introduced early next year.

“That will be an ordinance that will give very, very specific direction and outline the way that the business needs to be conducted in real detail,” Gibson said.

Designated areas where street food vendors can legally operate will also need to be established under the law. The Clark County Geographic Information Systems Management Office is currently creating a website showing areas in the county where sidewalk vending is prohibited, said Gibson.

According to Kirkpatrick, there are about 300 street food vendors operating in Clark County, many of whom hope to work towards a license once ordinances and regulations are created.

Virginia Valentine, representing the Nevada Resort Association, said the group’s top priority is the establishment of a robust enforcement program to execute the ban of sidewalk vendors on the resort corridor. 

Future ordinances should be considered to “maintain those sidewalks in those public areas for what they are intended, and that is pedestrian movement,” said Valentine. 

Clark County commissioners have criticized the Nevada legislature for their messaging on the new state law governing street food vendors, which commissioners say created a lack of clarity about what street food vendors can and can’t do.

In August, a viral video documented a violent confrontation between police and a street food vendor near the Welcome to Las Vegas Sign, less than a month after Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo held a heavily publicized signing ceremony implying street food vendors were “open for business.”

In the days after the video went viral, representatives for Clark County said, “while legislation has indeed been signed by the Governor, street vendors are currently not legally permitted to operate within Clark County without a license.”

The incident exposed significant holes in the implementation of a bill meant to bring the iconic retailers out of the shadows.

Under the new state law, the Nevada secretary of state’s office is also required to set up a task force to work with counties and recommend business permitting and regulations for sidewalk vending. County officials said the mandated task force will be convened concurrently with the county’s work on ordinances. 

The task force — made up of nine members appointed by the secretary of state — will include a health district representative, a government employee responsible for business licensing, a gaming or restaurant representative, law enforcement, and four members who are sidewalk vendors or representatives of that community.